This bookexamines the many ways in which the peoples along the Silk Roads interacted and considers the implications for economies and societies, as well as political and religious institutions

Foreword
Preface
List of Maps and Illustrations PART ONE. INTRODUCTION: FROM THE RISE OF THE SILK ROADS TO A EURASIAN MARKET SYSTEM
China's Trade on the Western Frontier, Second-First Centuries B.C.E
Rome's Trade to the East, First Century BCE-Second Century C.E.
The Kushan Empire and the Influence of Buddhism, Second Century B.C.E.-Second Century C.E
.The Oasis Towns of Central Asia and the Spread of Buddhism, Third-Seventh Centuries C.E.
The Byzantine Empire and Silks in Royal Purple, Sixth-Ninth Centuries C.E.
The Tang Empire and Foreign Traders and Priests, Eighth-Tenth Centuries C.E.
Muslim Baghdad in the Eurasian Market, Ninth-Eleventh Centuries C.E.
Trade Networks from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea, Tenth-Thirteenth Centuries C.E.PART TWO. THE DOCUMENTS
1. China's Trade on the Western Frontier, Second-First Centuries B.C.E.1. Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian of China, Early First Century B.C.E.
2. Ban Gu, History of the Former Han Dynasty, Late First Century C.E.
3. Documents Excavated from Juyan Fort on the Great Wall, ca. 103 B.C.E.-40 C.E.
Letter from an Officer to His Wife
Travelers' Passports
Soldiers' Work Assignments
2. Rome's Trade to the East, First Century B.C.E.-Second Century C.E.4. Strabo, The Geography, Early First Century C.E.
5. Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, ca. 145-60 C.E.
6. Pliny, Natural History, 77 C.E.
7. The Voyage around the Red Sea, First Century C.E.
8. Ptolemy, The Geography, Mid-Second Century C.E.
3. The Kushan Empire and the Influence of Buddhism, Second Century B.C.E.-Second Century C.E.9. The Questions of King Milinda, ca. 166-150 B.C.E.
10. The Lotus of the True Law, First Century B.C.E.-First Century C.E.
11. The Amitabha Sutra, First Century B.C.E.-First Century C.E.
12. Votive Inscription on a Silver Plaque from Taxila, First-Second Centuries C.E.4. The Oasis Towns of Central Asia and the Spread of Buddhism, Third-Seventh Centuries C.E. 13. Documents Excavated from the Ruins of Niya, Third Century C.E.
Contract for the Sale of a Vineyard
An Ownership Dispute about a Slave
Regulations for a Community of Monks
14. Nanai-vandak, Letter to the Noble Lord Varzákk, ca. 313 C.E.
15. Faxian, A Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms, ca. 416 C.E.
16. Song Yun and Huisheng, The Mission of Song Yun and Huisheng, ca. 547 C.E.
17. Huili and Yanzong, The Life of Xuanzang, ca. 664-688 C.E.
18. Inventories Excavated from a Turfan Cemetery, Mid-Seventh Century C.E.
Tang Zhuanghui, ca. 641 C.E.
Xinfu, 672 C.E.
5. The Byzantine Empire and Silks in Royal Purple, Sixth-Ninth Centuries C.E.19. Procopius, History of the Wars, ca. 550 C.E.
20. Procopius, The Secret History, ca. 550 C.E.
21. The Book of the Eparch, ca. 895 C.E.
6. The Tang Empire and Foreign Traders and Priests, Eighth-Tenth Centuries C.E.22. Zhang Zhuo, Anecdotes from the Court and the Country, ca. 705 C.E.
23. Jingjing, Inscriptions from the Nestorian Stele, 781 C.E.
The Messiah of Christians
The Development of the Christian Church in China
24. Liu Xu and Others, The Old Tang History, 941-45 C.E. 7. Muslim Baghdad in the Eurasian Trading Market, Ninth-Eleventh Centuries C.E.25. Sulayman al-Tajir and Others, An Account of China and India, ca. 851 C.E.
26. Mas'udi, The Meadows of Gold: The Abbasids, ca. 947 C.E.
27. Book of Gifts and Rarities, eleventh century C.E.
8. Trade Networks from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea, Tenth-Thirteenth Centuries C.E.28. Captain Buzurg Ibn Shahriyar, The Book of the Wonders of India, 953 C.E.
29. Inscription on a Cliff in the Port of Quanzhou, 1183 C.E.
30. Ibn Jubayr, The Travels of Ibn Jubayr, ca. 1185 C.E.
31. Letter from a Jewish Trader in India to His Wife in Cairo, 1204 C.E.
32. Zhao Rukuo, Records Concerning Foreign Countries, 1225 C.E.
33. Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, ca. 1298 C.E.
34. Song Lian and Others, History of the Yuan Dynasty, 1370 C.E.Appendixes
A Chronology of the Silk Roads (Second Century B.C.E.-Thirteenth Century C.E.)
Questions for Consideration
Selected BibliographyIndex